Continuity or paradigm shift? Integration and migration policy in recent years
Annual Report | July 2024
Developments in migration and integration policies over the last five years have been characterised by very high numbers of people seeking protection and the pressures this entails, a growing need for labour from third countries and an intensification of political debates and proliferation of proposed solutions. German legislators and the responsible public authorities have responded with numerous measures. Efforts to reform the Common European Asylum System, which had been stuck for years, finally resulted in agreement at European Union level.
In its fifteenth annual report, the SVR explains the measures that have been taken and how they work in practice. The SVR's analysis shows: Migration and integration is one of the most dynamic policy areas. Although public debate was at times very heated and created political pressure for action, the path of policy and legislation remained largely unchanged. However, there was also a shift in emphasis in certain areas. Integration and migration policy was characterised by the struggle for a balance between openness and restriction, between promoting integration and controlling immigration.
